Perception the inlet of
Knowledge.
§15. Perception then being the first step and degree towards Know- ledge, and the inlet of all the Materials of it, the fewer Senses any
Man, as well as any other Creature, hath; and the fewer and duller the Impressions
are, that are made by them; and the duller the Faculties are, that are employed about
them, the more remote are they from that Knowledge, which is to be found in some Men.
But this being in great variety of Degrees, (as may be perceived amongst Men,)
cannot certainly be discovered in the several Species of Animals, much less in their
particular Individuals. It suffices me only to have remarked here, that Perception is
the first Operation of all our intellectual Faculties, and the inlet of all Knowledge
into our Minds. And I am apt too to imagine, That it is Perception in the lowest
degree of it, which puts the Boundaries between Animals, and the inferior ranks of
Creatures. But this I mention only as my conjecture by the by, it being indifferent to
the Matter in Hand, which way the Learned shall determine of it.